The Kansas City Smoke rubbed elbows with some of the region’s best collegiate athletes on Saturday at the annual Sam Williams Twilight Qualifier in Emporia, KS.
For the college kids, it was one final opportunity to hit a qualifying mark for their year-end national meets. For the Smoke, it was a chance to build towards the USATF Club Championships and USA Outdoor Masters Championships in July and August.
Mike Hernandez and Aaron Yoder worked together in an action-packed 1500m, placing 3rd and 4th respectively with times of 3:53.00 and 3:57.61 (a season’s best for Yoder). TJ Mapp wasn’t far behind in his Smoke debut, breaking 4 minutes for the second time in his career and the 2nd time in a week with a 3:59.59.
You can watch the race on the KC Smoke Youtube channel by clicking here.
In the first heat of the 1500m, season’s best effort of 4:16.66, while Randy Wasinger managed a 4:06.41, placing 3rd in the heat.
Click here to view the race.
Charles Janssen moved down in distance and ran his best 800m in several years, finishing in 1:59.94.
Click here to see Charles’s race.
Finally, Brett Rinehart finished off the evening with an inspiring 33:55.74 in the 10,000m which was a HUGE 45 second PR.
Running With The Cows Half Marathon
Rikki Hacker finished off the 3rd and final leg of the Heartland 39.3 Series with another strong effort. Rikki’s 1:14:09 in the Running With The Cows Half Marathon in Bucyrus was good for 3rd place on Saturday and 2nd place for the Series as a whole.
Ken Moran also made it through all 3 legs and landed another Masters division victory with a 1:18:42, which was also good for 6th overall.